Topics that have surfaced during the debate include:
a. the accuracy and fairness of Kitsap County Assessor’s property
valuations.
b. the possibility of a class action lawsuit on behalf of
commercial property owners whose assessed values increased
sharply.
c. the possibility of changing appeal laws/procedures to reduce the
burden of proof on the property owner.

If either b. or c.
goes anywhere, I’ll be following up on it. As for a., if I’m
interpreting the DOR analysis correctly, it appears Kitsap County’s
success rate/satisfied customer rate — judging from the percentage
of appeals per properties assessed — is better the state
average.

Now for the qualifying statement. Mike Gowrylow, DOR spokesman,
specifically states in his press release, “Washington’s thirty-nine
county assessors operate within unique local geographical,
political, and economic environments that often influence the
attributes of a county’s assessment system and the level of
services they provide. Consequently, making direct comparisons
between individual counties may result in distorted or misleading
conclusions unless additional information is considered or more
in-depth analysis is conducted.”

And yet, the report “is intended to provide property tax
administrators and decision-makers with a uniform set of
comparative statistics to assist in the analysis and evaluation of
assessment operations and the adequacy of assessment
resources.”

Also note: the numbers counties reported for their budgets, FTE
levels, and appeals were as of a specific point in time (March
2011) and may have changed since then. The report also tallies
assessed values, number of parcels, new construction, number of
appeals and other relevant figures.

Kitsap County in 2010 had a total of 112,218 parcels and a total
assessed value of nearly $28.2 billion ($28,158,972,045)
representing 3.48 percent of the all-county total AV. Commercial
properties (46 in manufacturing, 4,416 in commercial use) make up 4
percent of the total number of properties.

Kitsap’s average value per parcel is $246,986. The straight up
state average for counties like Kitsap that do annual assessments
is $177,056. The statewide weighted mean, in which data are given
weighted values for a more statistically accurate description, is
$256,918.

The DOR analysis looked at workloads based on staffing and
number of parcels assessed. The Kitsap Assessor’s office lost 2.9
percent of its staffing between 2009 and 2010; the drop was 7.2
percent between 2010 and 2011. Statewide staffing decreases varied
widely, with a number of counties showing no change between 2010
and 2011. Lincoln County’s staffing decreased by 20 percent. At the
other end of the spectrum, San Juan County increased its staffing
by 16.5 percent.

Looking at number of inspections per appraiser, Kitsap was about
in the middle of the pack with 1,255. Douglas County had the
heaviest load with 3,663. Garfield County had the lightest, with
302.

Looking at the percentage of appeals compared to the total of
non-exempt parcels, Kitsap’s appeal rate was .55 percent for 2009
and .51 percent in 2010 among counties
that assess annually (13 counties assess
cyclically, less frequently than each year). The 2009 state
average is .80 percent and the state weighted mean is
1.33 percent. Looking at the 2010 appeal rate, we’ve got .61
percent average statewide and a statewide weighted mean of .84
percent.

So Kitsap did better than average in 2009 and 2010, and quite a
bit better than the statewide weighted mean in those years. I’m
guessing that’s cold comfort to those who saw large jumps in
assessment in those years.

Kitsap County does a detailed assessment, with a visual
inspection of the property, every six years. Complaints typically
result when the detailed inspection results in a jump in property
value, as properties that have, according to the assessor’s office,
been undervalued are brought into line with current comparable
assessments.

The law
states the assessor must value properties at “True and fair
value,” which “means market value and is the amount of money a
buyer of property willing but not obligated to buy would pay a
seller of property willing but not obligated to sell, taking into
consideration all uses to which the property is adapted and might
in reason be applied.” The law goes on, “In determining true and
fair value, the assessor may use the sales (market data) approach,
the cost approach, or the income approach, or a combination of the
three approaches to value.”

So, I’ll leave you with a question or two or three, “How (if at
all) would you change the law on assessments, and why?”

“How, if at all, would you change the law on
appeals, which currently requires the property owner to show
‘clear, cogent and convincing evidence’ the assessor is wrong?”

“What, if anything, do you think could a class action lawsuit on
behalf of property owners who feel they’ve been unfairly assessed
could accomplish?”